Selima

Selima (b. 30 April 1745) was one of the most important Thoroughbred horses of the 18th century and became one of the foundation mares of the American Thoroughbred. She was imported to Maryland between 1750 and 1752 by Benjamin Tasker, Jr. History Selima was foaled on 30 April 1745 at the stud farm of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin in England. She was sired by the Godolphin Arabian out of the "Shireborn Mare", by the stallion Hobgoblin. Shireborn reportedly same from the royal stables of the Stuart monarch Anne, Queen of Great Britain. A bay mare with a faint white star on her forehead, and a splash of white on her left hind ankle, Selima was the among the first Thoroughbreds to cross the Atlantic Ocean and race in the American colonies. She was imported by Benjamin Tasker, Jr. of Maryland around September 1750, at the age of 5, and was supposedly pregnant when she was shipped across the Atlantic, according to the Earl of Godolphin's studbook. However, no foal was produced, meaning that Selima likely miscarried. However, John L. Hervey, the author of Racing in America 1665-1865 (1944), disputes this: